A new poll in Scotland has revealed a surge against Scottish independence after Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and the leader of the SNP, the party campaigning for Scottish independence, pledged his support for Putin and, believe it or not, called his fellow countrymen "drunks".

The bruised First Minister gave a woeful display in Holyrood (the Scottish Parliament) as he was blasted by all three opposition leaders for his glowing comments about the Russian president.

At the end of one of the toughest weeks for the SNP leader in recent months a new poll was also published which found that the pro-Union Better Together has recorded a dramatic 16-point lead over the Yes campaign.

With undecided voters stripped out from the figures, the YouGov study put support for the Union at 58 per cent, with backing for separation languishing on just 42 per cent.

That is a far cry from a recent ICM poll which put Yes on 48 per cent and No on 52 per cent, and suggests any momentum for Mr Salmond’s campaign has come to a shuddering halt.

It is also a major humiliation for SNP strategists who privately told journalists they could draw level in the polls as early as this week.

On Monday it emerged Mr Salmond had told GQ magazine that he admires ‘certain aspects’ of Putin’s politics.

The Russian president has effectively outlawed homosexuality, defended the Syrian government’s attacks on its own people, and annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea before claiming it for Russia.

But, while Mr Salmond said he does not approve of a ‘range of Russian actions’, he added: ‘He’s restored a substantial part of Russian pride and that must be a good thing.’

His comments sparked worldwide condemnation from groups such as Amnesty International, while the SNP leader received unwanted support from the Kremlin and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk.

In the same interview, while discussing promoting whisky when abroad, Mr Salmond said: ‘My argument is that if you are promoting it as authentic and of great worth, you cannot promote it from a nation of drunks.’

Record numbers of Scots have now registered to vote in the September 18 referendum, including 80 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds. This will be the first ever vote of its kind in the UK to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to take part.

58% say they will vote No, with only 42 backing independenceSurge in support for the Union follows growing anger over Putin praiseRefused to apologise for remarks during Holyrood questionsAlso faces a backlash for branding Scotland a 'nation of drunks'

Alex Salmond was left reeling last night as a new poll revealed a surge in support for the Union amid growing anger over his support for Vladimir Putin.

The bruised First Minister gave a woeful display in Holyrood as he was blasted by all three opposition leaders for his glowing comments about the Russian president.

At the end of one of the toughest weeks for the SNP leader in recent months - including branding Scotland a 'nation of drunks - a new poll was also published which found that Better Together has recorded a dramatic 16-point lead over the Yes campaign.

Among those expressing a preference, 58 per cent said they would vote against Scottish independence, with only 42 backing it in a YouGov poll for Channel 4 News

With undecided voters stripped out from the figures, the YouGov study put support for the Union at 58 per cent, with backing for separation languishing on just 42 per cent.

That is a far cry from a recent ICM poll which put Yes on 48 per cent and No on 52 per cent, and suggests any momentum for Mr Salmond’s campaign has come to a shuddering halt.

It is also a major humiliation for SNP strategists who privately told journalists they could draw level in the polls as early as this week.

However, the importance of persuading pro-Union Scots to cast their votes on September 18 became clear yesterday, as a study found that supporters of independence are far more likely to turn out.

Their greater appetite could boost the final Yes tally by 2 per cent, which could be pivotal in a close race.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond may have destroyed his hopes of an independent Scotland after calling his fellow countrymen "a nation of drunks"

Record numbers of Scots have now registered to vote, including 80 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds.

The new YouGov poll for Channel 4 News involved surveying 1,208 Scots between Friday, April 25, and Monday, April 28.

It came at the end of a week when Labour had ‘stamped its mark all over the referendum debate’ with leader Ed Miliband bringing his Shadow Cabinet to Glasgow and former Prime Minister Gordon Brown appearing under the Better Together banner for the first time.

Then, on Monday, it emerged Mr Salmond had told GQ magazine that he admires ‘certain aspects’ of Putin’s politics.

The Russian president has effectively outlawed homosexuality, defended the Syrian government’s attacks on its own people, and annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea before claiming it for Russia.

But, while Mr Salmond said he does not approve of a ‘range of Russian actions’, he added: ‘He’s restored a substantial part of Russian pride and that must be a good thing.’

His comments sparked worldwide condemnation from groups such as Amnesty International, while the SNP leader received unwanted support from the Kremlin and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk.

In the same interview, while discussing promoting whisky when abroad, Mr Salmond said: ‘My argument is that if you are promoting it as authentic and of great worth, you cannot promote it from a nation of drunks.’

Mr Salmond has stubbornly refused to apologise to Ukrainians, and again flatly turned down the opportunity to say sorry during First Minister’s Questions yesterday.

Observers agreed that it was one of the worst performances by Mr Salmond in the chamber for months.

His front bench looked uncomfortable as Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont told him: ‘The reputation of the people of Scotland has been damaged.’

Willie Rennie, leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, said: ‘The First Minister wants us to stand tall in the world, but does he not just look small?’

Ruth Davidson, Scottish Conservative leader, said the First Minister ‘continues to make poorly timed and badly judged interventions on foreign affairs’.

She added: ‘How can we trust the First Minister to represent Scotland on the global stage when he so consistently gets it wrong?’

Mr Salmond’s only defence was to weakly refer to a £500,000 donation to Better Together from businessman Ian Taylor last year, and to claim that he was referring to the Sochi Winter Olympics when he spoke of Russian ‘pride’.

‘The position that we have put forward has been consistent and balanced,’ he said.

‘It shows that we do not approve of Russian actions and consists of comments that are reasonable in the circumstances, and we back that up by the action that we have taken.’

Afterwards his top spin doctor bizarrely claimed the criticism was not borne out of concern for the people of Ukraine, or Scotland’s global image, but was part of a Better Together conspiracy.

His remarks were reminiscent of Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill’s widely derided claim that criticism of his plan to abolish legal safeguards was also a pro-Union plot.

The First Minister’s spokesman said there was a ‘coordinated political attack by opponents sensing an opportunity that has nothing to do with the situation in Ukraine’.

Meanwhile, the new YouGov poll was welcomed by Better Together last night.

‘This poll is yet another sign that our campaign speaks for the majority of Scots who want Scotland to remain a proud member of the UK,’ a spokesman said.

However, researchers at social research institute ScotCen found that the proportion of Yes voters who are more than 50 per cent likely to take part in the referendum is four percentage points higher than the equivalent proportion for No supporters.

Among undecided voters, 91 per cent of those leaning towards Yes are more than 50 per cent likely to vote, compared with 73 per cent leaning towards No.

A spokesman for Better Together said: ‘This analysis shows that everyone who believes that we are stronger and better together as part of the UK has to campaign for it and they have to vote for it. This is the biggest decision that we will ever take as a nation. It is too important to leave to other people.’

A Yes Scotland spokesman said: ‘The success of the campaign so far lies in the fact that hundreds of thousands of people have found no difficulty in finding the motivation to fight for a Yes vote.’

The SNP claimed that support for separation is at its highest level in YouGov polls, and business convener Derek Mackay insisted the race is still ‘neck and neck’.

'MORTGAGES WOULD COST MORE IN AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND'

Scots families would pay more for mortgages and credit cards in an independent Scotland, an influential ratings agency has warned.

Moody’s said separation would leave Scotland at least two notches below the rest of the UK, pushing up the cost of borrowing and leaving people worse off.

It has also delivered a hammer blow to Alex Salmond’s hopes of sharing the pound by saying it would be bad for the rest of the UK.

However, it admits such an outcome is ‘unlikely’ as the main parties have all ruled out a currency union following a Yes vote.

The findings reinforce the gloomy predictions for an independent Scotland previously made by the likes of Fitch and the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR).

Fitch, one of the other top ratings agencies, warned the SNP plans for a ‘currency union’ with the rest of the UK could lead to ‘high volatility and market turbulence’ in December.

And earlier this month, NIESR said Scotland’s annual debt repayments to the rest of the UK, including interest, would be a crippling £23billion.

First Minister Alex Salmond has said Scotland could walk away from the UK debt if it is not allowed to join a currency union. And Joan MacAlpine, SNP MSP, made the bizarre claim that Scotland’s credit rating would be higher than the UK’s.

That was dismissed by Moody’s yesterday.

It said: ‘The most likely scenario is that Scotland would be rated somewhere in the middle of investment grade, though at least two notches below the UK's rating.

‘An A rating is the most likely at the outset, but with risks of a different outcome tilted to the downside.'

It also backed the UK Government’s decision to rule out sharing the pound following a Yes vote.

‘If Scotland were to retain the pound sterling as its currency and the Bank of England as its central bank, this would be credit negative for the remainder of the UK,’ Moody’s said.

The findings were seized upon by the pro-union campaign who said they deal a further blow to the nationalists’ faltering economic case for independence.

Former Chancellor Alistair Darling, the leader of Better Together, said: ‘This is an absolutely devastating report for the nationalists.'

What will happen in the event of the Scots voting in favour of independence on 18th September?

Scottish historian Allan Massie imagines David Cameron quitting, the Queen being furious, Scotland's economy going belly up and the Nordic inhabitants of oil-rich Shetland and Orkney who, despite being part of Scotland don't really consider themselves to be Scottish in many ways, wanting to break away from an independent Scotland and negotiate UK Crown Dependency status similar to that of the Isle of Man, taking all that oil away from Scotland in the process. Eventually, the people of both Scotland and England will hope for a new Treaty of Union...

So what happens when Scotland votes yes? Cameron's quit, the Queen is furious, the Shetlands have taken all the oil - and the Scottish economy is tanking: A brilliant 'imagining' of life after the Union
Scottish historian Allan Massie analysis a potential yes to independence
Mr Massie paints a compelling scenario of a Britain no longer unified
As polls still remain on a knife edge, he imagines the immediate effects
Mr Massie also looks at who would rule England, Wales and Northern Ireland

In the steely grey of dawn, a bitter wind clatters empty beer cans through Edinburgh’s New Town, where a few brave souls remain outside Bute House, the First Minister’s official residence in Charlotte Square.

They have come to see history made. The first results, seeming to show the Scottish nationalists sweeping all before them, had prompted wild street celebrations. But, agonisingly, Scotland, England and this clutch of Tartan diehards are forced to wait. Results from Orkney and Shetland and other outlying constituencies won’t be in until the afternoon. Exit polls say the result is on a knife edge.

‘Typical of those bastards to take it to extra time,’ comes a voice from the shivering throng. A man with a smudged Saltire on his face replies: ‘Aye, but you can rely on the English to lose the penalty shoot-out.’

What could be: If the Scottish vote yes in the September referendum, it spells the end of the United Kingdom as it is now and Great Britain will be no more

5.30am. The kitchen, 10 Downing Street.

‘Too close to call,’ was the last phrase David Cameron heard before snatching a few hours sleep. Nothing has changed. The shirtsleeved Prime Minister leans, head in hands, on the kitchen table. His Cabinet Secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, and two special advisers take urgent calls: the counts continue, but the nationalists’ celebrations are under way. The piles of ‘yes’ papers don’t lie. Scotland is going to go it alone.

There’s an awkward silence. Everyone knows the PM has made mistakes. He’d never wanted a TV debate with Alex Salmond.

If only he hadn’t allowed himself to be persuaded by Michael Gove who, as a Scot himself, assured him that tackling Salmond head-on would play well north of Hadrian’s Wall. In fact, Salmond was smoothly impressive and an anxious Cameron made a fateful blunder – threatening to resign if Scotland voted for independence. The Scots smelt blood. Opinion polls showed thousands of ‘don’t knows’ shifted their allegiance to the ‘yes’ camp.

Even worse was the ‘Braveheart Ailsa Cameron’ moment, when the feisty passion of his 17-year-old namesake from Fife made the Prime Minister look a blustering fool on a radio phone-in and started an #AilsaYes bandwagon on social media. Sir Sean Connery phoned to congratulate her from California. He doesn’t do Twitter.

On to a winner: First minister Alex Salmond

And had Cameron really been right to advise the Queen not to break off her holiday at Balmoral? He had intended to be reassuring, but was accused of complacency. All the same, he consoles himself, this mess was not his fault. Labour had botched the ‘Better Together’ campaign.

He lights a cigarette, and stubs it out with the nauseous thought that Salmond will be drinking champagne. Sir Jeremy suavely states the obvious: ‘I’m afraid we’re in uncharted territory, Prime Minister.’

Craig Oliver, Cameron’s Director of Communications, slips silently in, his mind focused on John Humphrys and 8.10am. ‘You’ve got to appear statesmanlike and magnanimous,’ he offers.

‘Reassure the nation on the pound and the Armed Forces, regretfully congratulate Scotland on its decision and, above all, say there won’t be a General Election until this Parliament has run its full term. The Scottish MPs will continue to sit in Westminster until then, but won’t be permitted to vote on matters affecting England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the West Lothian question and all that. Business as usual for the United Kingdom…’

An aide interrupts with news that rioting has broken out in Belfast – the Republicans wanting a united Ireland. ‘Speak to the Northern Ireland Secretary,’ the PM says wearily, for a moment forgetting her name.

Samantha, still in the fetching tartan wrap she wore for the cameras yesterday, gives her husband a hug of consolation and a bacon sandwich. ‘Eat something,’ she says, softly. ‘Look on the bright side, at least you’ll get to see more of the children.’

Noon. 10 Downing Street.

Salmond is on TV, a Cheshire cat grin splitting his face. ‘Our friends in England will find we are good neighbours,’ he says.

‘Smuggo Salmond’s got a surprise coming,’ chips in Chancellor George Osborne. ‘We own his Royal Bank. And the markets are soaring. The City thinks Scotland has been holding the recovery back. Let him pay for his own precious free education and health care.’

Cameron brightens. He hasn’t yet arranged to see the Queen.

‘Maybe I can hang on,’ he thinks. The reporters are like starving locusts outside. Cameron puts his jacket on and steps lightly downstairs, past the disapproving portraits of dead Prime Ministers. He takes a deep breath. ‘Certainly not,’ he says. ‘I have no intention of resigning. There’s work to be done.’

Back in the Cabinet Room, the Prime Minister takes a call from Carwyn Jones, the Welsh First Minister, who wants to know where this leaves Wales. ‘Just where you were,’ he is told. Nobody has given Wales a thought. He grits his teeth and telephones Salmond to congratulate him.

‘Obama got in before you,’ Salmond replies unctuously.

Scotland, meanwhile, is curiously sober – the BBC reports most people have gone to work as usual.

The PM’s heart sinks. Boris is on. ‘London can take it,’ blusters the man known as ‘two-jobs Johnson’ since remaining as Mayor of London while winning a summer by-election engineered by the resignation of a backbencher with an eye on the Lords.

‘There’s a flood of money coming South and the planes from Scotland to London are booked solid. The Prime Minister? Resigning? Think Francis Urquhart, old boy, “You may say that, but I couldn‘t possibly comment.” ’

9am. Malibu, California.

Sir Sean Connery instructs his London broker to withdraw the last of his money from RBS, only to be told that it’s now 5pm in London and the banks are shut.

Saturday, September 20.

Showing where their allegiance lies: Glasgow Rangers fans

In Glasgow, Rangers fans bedecked in the Union Flag sing an offensive song about Alex Salmond and are arrested. In George Square, a drunk man argues that if England hadn’t won the World Cup in Brazil, Scotland would have voted to stay in the Union. ‘It’ll be 1966 and all that all over again,’ he says. ‘I was a Unionist myself, but I couldna stand the thought o’ that, and voted yes. Whit’s mair, the winning goal was offside.’

Royal bank of ??? : The RBS would remain in the hands of the government that helped bail it out - the one in Westminster

Sunday, September 21. Chequers.

Nobody mentions the papers strewn over the dining table. The bastards have done their worst. ‘Cam Oot’ screams one of the red tops.

The broadsheets are worse.

Spin doctor Craig Oliver advises the PM to show who’s in charge.

‘I’ve arranged a series of photo-ops with all the key players,’ he says.

‘Mark Carney will say the Bank of England is well-prepared, the Scottish pound will be pegged to Sterling and both currencies will remain legal tender on both sides of the border until further notice. Chief of the General Staff Sir Peter Wall will say that arrangements are under way for a transfer of command for the Scottish regiments to Edinburgh, but that the situation of Scottish soldiers in UK units will remain unchanged. Tony Hall will say BBC Scotland will become the SBC, funded by the Scottish licence fee.’

There’s the crunch of gravel on the drive and a knock on the door. It’s the chief whip, Sir George Young. He looks nervous.

‘Morning Prime Minister,’ he says. ‘Look, I won’t beat about the bush. I’m sorry to have to tell you that you no longer have the support of the parliamentary party.’

Cameron stares out over the famous Chequers croquet lawn.

‘So it’s over,’ he says, simply.

Monday, September 22. Balmoral.

Her Majesty, her face like thunder, tells a courtier that Mr Cameron will have to wait. Their exact words remain secret, but the official line is that the Queen was happy to be assured that Scotland would remain a member of the Commonwealth. In Scotland she would now be known as Elizabeth I, Queen of Scots.

An ashen David Cameron is swept away for his last journey in the Prime Ministerial car. He joins Samantha and the children at her stepfather Lord Astor’s 20,000-acre estate on the Hebridean island of Jura.

‘Clegg’s in charge,’ he tells her, wryly. ‘Let’s see who agrees with Nick now.’

Tuesday, September 23, 10am. 10 Downing Street.

Miriam Clegg enters No 10 in triumph, looking like a modern, designer version of the Infanta of Castile. Her husband, temporarily in charge, raises his arm to hush the cheering Lib Dem faithful.

‘There is much to do,’ he says. ‘Two great nations face a great future together. Side-by-side, but separate. It is my job, and Alex Salmond’s job, to build a bridge over troubled waters.’

It is not a promising start: a pre-prepared transcript reveals he never intended to invoke Simon and Garfunkel, but to mouth a platitude about spreading oil on troubled waters. The papers have a field day, pointing out that the missing oil is now Scotland’s.

Friends for-never: A Scottish yes to independence and Alex Salmond could spell the end of David Cameron's time as Britain's Prime Minister

11am, 11 Downing Street.

Osborne takes a call from Salmond.

‘I told you currency union is not on,’ says a smiling Chancellor. ‘Ed Balls agrees. You’re on your own now, sink or swim.’

‘They’ll sink,’ he smirks, ending the call. The news alarms the markets. Money flees from Scotland and three large insurance companies relocate to England. Osborne, representing the UK taxpayer, commands the Royal Bank of Scotland to transfer its headquarters to London.

‘We must ensure it behaves responsibly,’ he says.

Tuesday, September 30. Westminster.

The five names for the first ballot of the Conservative leadership contest are revealed: George Osborne, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, Teresa May and Eric Pickles.

Parliament is in chaos. What will MPs from Scottish constituencies do? And what about Scottish MPs in English constituencies? The Fixed-Term Parliament Act makes it impossible to call an immediate General Election unless two-thirds of the House vote for dissolution – which would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.

Many MPs are surprised to discover that Scotland will remain part of the United Kingdom until the fine detail has been agreed. Salmond has fixed the date of Independence at 18 months after the referendum. Too soon, say the Conservatives.

Friday, October 3.

After a resounding victory in the second leadership ballot, Boris Johnson’s first day as Prime Minister is marred by an unseemly spat with Alex Salmond after the PM tells Newsnight interviewer Phillip Schofield that the Scots are behaving like unruly children.

‘Boris Johnson is the last person who should be lecturing Scotland on children,’ says Salmond.

His day gets worse as Nadine Dorries defects to become UKIP’s first MP.

‘We must put the United Kingdom first,’ she says. ‘I demand the introduction of border controls to stop Scottish workers stealing our jobs.’ At the EU Council of Ministers, Johnson endures French President Francois Hollande’s jibes about the Auld Alliance and the Spanish Prime Minister assures him he will veto Scotland’s bid to join the EU.

‘Catalonia is still part of Spain and the United Kingdom is broken. I had the “cojones” and Cameron didn’t. Who’s laughing now?,’ he says. Not many in Scotland.

Enthusiastic: Pro-independence campaigners march through Edinburgh in September last year, 12 months ahead of the referendum

Monday, October 6. Lerwick.

Viking torches flame as islanders from Orkney and Shetland gather to demand a referendum of their own after both voted ‘no’ to independence by a substantial majority. Salmond refuses, declaring that Orkney and Shetland are part of Scotland.

‘You’re not independent yet, Jock,’ Boris Johnson tells him by phone. ‘Orkney and Shetland are part of the UK and I’d be neglecting my duty if I didn’t offer them the opportunity to stay. I’m fixing the vote for May to coincide with the General Election.’

Faced with the prospect of losing Shetland – and the substantial oil revenues from its territorial waters – Scottish Finance Minister, John Swinney, is compelled to bring in an emergency budget, imposing prescription charges, student fees (both of which did not exist in Scotland, unlike in England, until now) and welfare cuts.

The markets panic when SNP extremists call on Salmond to reject Scotland’s share of the UK national debt. A flight of capital begins amid rumours that Scotland plans exchange controls.

January 5, 2015. Glasgow.

Rising unemployment sees anti-Salmond demonstrations and an exodus from Scotland to England.

Farage again demands border controls to protect British jobs. Boris reminds him the Scots, as British and EU citizens, are entitled to benefit from the free movement of labour, but support for UKIP rises sharply.

As Scotland’s economy withers, England booms. Salmond is forced to accept that Trident submarines will continue to be based in the Clyde in exchange for an annual rent from London.

April 13, 2015. Westminster.

UKIP's Nadine Dorries seeks to introduce a bill to prevent Scotland from voting in May’s General Election. Nobody else in Westminster has noticed that Scottish votes could make Ed Miliband Prime Minister – only for him to lose his majority when the Act of Union is repealed and Scottish MPs are sent home.

May 2015.

Few people, south or north of the border, can bring themselves to vote for Miliband, especially after his ill-judged election pledge to cap house prices and tax house profits at 40 per cent. Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats collapse and Boris is elected PM.

March 2016.

British Vikings: The pro-UK Orkney and Shetland break away from Scotland and negotiate a UK status similar to the Isle of Man, booming on oil and the new offshore financial services.

NOT many bells are rung in Scotland when the Day of Independence finally arrives. Orkney and Shetland negotiate a UK status similar to the Isle of Man, booming on oil and the new offshore financial services.

The Ulster Troubles rumble on and nobody thinks about Wales. In Scotland, Mel Gibson’s Braveheart cry of ‘Freedom’ sounds painfully ironic as cuts that would make Lady Thatcher wince begin to bite.

Both countries appear sadly diminished. Even the natural ebullience of Prime Minister Johnson cannot prevent him from privately acknowledging that a state that had been unable to hold together had become Little Britain in the eyes of the world.

A view gathers strength on both sides of the border that those who had argued that England and Scotland were ‘better together’ had been right all along.

In both countries many hope for a generation of politicians with the vision to make the case for a new Treaty of Union. How long both nations will have to wait is, sadly, anyone’s guess.

Left wing: With its generous welfare state (which is funded by the English taxpayer whilst it's in the UK) and high levels of public spending, an independent Scotland would be a socialist state

GORDON Brown has waded into the debate about Scottish independence with a revelatory speech, claiming that Scotland could not afford the generous welfare state that it “enjoys” without significant subsidy from the English taxpayer.

There must be some mistake. Scotland has been governed by Labour or the equally left-wing SNP for 17 years. Its level of public expenditure and state intervention are higher than in England.

According to the socialist thesis, this should have yielded world-class public services. All that government spending should have provided a continuous economic stimulus.

You would have thought that transferring all that money from wealth creators to state bureaucrats would have worked its “magic” by now?

The truth is different. Scotland, like many high-spending states, has pitifully low levels of life expectancy; it also has one of the highest rates of unemployment in northern Europe.

Its economy is the only part of the UK which is stagnant and it remains dependant on English taxpayers for many of its subsidised services.

In making the case for the “better together” campaign, Brown has shown us how once again how socialism fails the people it claims to protect.

That's only according to one poll. And even then, that poll is only after the undecideds have been taken out, and it is generally believed that the NO side will rake in the majority of those voters who are yet to make up their minds.

Here's the result of the Panelbase poll conducted between 2nd September and 6th September 2014:

Yes to independence: 44%No to independence: 48%Undecided: 8%

No to independence lead: 4%

According to the Panelbase poll the Scots are to reject independence on Thursday 18th September, flying in the face of the YouGove poll which shows the Scots will vote for independence. So who are we to believe? This poll, or the poll which shows the YES side ahead?

You also have to take into account that the YES side are more prepared to make their presence known on the streets and to make their voices heard. They're far more vocal than the NO side and they have a history of intimidating anybody who is against independence - just ask Labour MP Jim Murphy. A pro-independence man was arrested last weeks for attacking Mr Murphy when Mr Murphy was touring Scotland with his No to Independence campaign. The nasty pro-independence mob have even taken to accusing Mr Murphy of being a paedophile The Cybernats are the worst, taking to the internet and writing foul-mouthed abuse at any Scot who says they will vote against independence.

I share the opinion of many that, come referendum day, Scotland's silent majority of NOs - and it DOES have a silent majority of NOs - who are scared to voice their opinions now, even in polls, because of Salmond's thugs will finally make their voices heard and Scotland will reject independence.

Also, we've been told that the YES side have taken the lead for the first time with the results of that YouGovpoll. But that's not true. The YES side also took the lead in a Panelbase poll conducted in August 2013 and a TNS BMRB poll conducted in August 2011, but the very next polls in each of those cases showed the NO side having retaken the lead.

There have been over 80 polls conducted and in all but three of them the NO side have had a lead. The polls, have they have done for YEARS, consistently show the anti-independence side with a lead, with the exception of just three polls. The overall Poll of Polls shows the NO side with a lead.